Further notable television parts include the title roles in The Chief (1993–1995), Judge John Deed (2001–2007) and Inspector George Gently (2007–2017).

[4] In his youth, Shaw was involved in a drunken brawl with a friend, suffering broken teeth, injuries to his face and a fractured skull, and needed cheekbone surgery.

[7] After filming finished on the TV series Judge John Deed, Shaw took the role of Thomas More in Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons.

After completing filming the final episode of George Gently, Shaw again toured in 2017 with the U.K. premiere of Gore Vidal's 1960 political piece, The Best Man.

[9] Another early role was booze and football-loving Welsh medical student Huw Evans in the television comedy series Doctor in the House.

[12] The actor had been introduced to international audiences via his portrayal of Horatio in the 1970 Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of Hamlet, starring Richard Chamberlain.

In interview at the time, Shaw commented that he generally responded well to the testing physical conditions, particularly when they enhanced the reality of the scene.

[13] Another television acting credit includes the role of Dr Robert Kingston in Always and Everyone (1999–2002), a British accident and emergency medical series, played alongside Niamh Cusack.

[9] The character gave an editorial voice to the television writer and producer G.F. Newman's ideas about lifestyle choices such as vegetarianism and alternative medicine as well as issues of social justice.

After the sixth season of Judge John Deed had been filmed, Shaw appeared in the series Apparitions, broadcast by the BBC in 2008.

On 9 May 2015 Shaw recited "For the Fallen" at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London which was broadcast on BBC 1.

[14] Shaw has narrated many audiobooks, including Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Silmarillion; Swift's Gulliver's Travels; and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.

This featured the return of a Second World War Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane from Britain to Malta for the first time in fifty years.

Shaw fulfilled a lifetime ambition to take the controls of a Spitfire and, though take-off was not permitted, he also powered an English Electric Lightning to 150 mph in three seconds along the runway at Cranfield Airport.

[14] Among several voiceovers and appearances, in 1974, Shaw starred in a three-minute advertisement for the Mk II Ford Capri[18] and in 1987, a TV advert for the Vauxhall Cavalier.